Andy Burnham has set out his proposal to freeze the Mayor’s council tax precept for the financial year 2024/25 to ease ongoing cost-of-living pressures on residents
The Mayor has also announced proposals for further investment in Greater Manchester’s emergency services which, if agreed, will see more frontline police officers and more fire engines on our streets in the coming year.
These proposals are recommendations for the Police, Fire and Crime Panel and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority(GMCA) to consider at the end of the month. Final recommendations across all budgets will be considered for approval by the special budget GMCA on 9 February.
Keeping communities in the city-region safe is the Mayor’s top priority and this requires investment in the police and fire and rescue services to help them continue to improve and give them the resources they need.
However, due to below inflation government grants to the services, in order to fund the improvements, it means local council taxpayers are being asked to pay more.
Aware of the cost-of-living crisis, the Mayor has chosen not to increase the Mayor’s precept.
The Mayor’s precept is part of the overall council tax paid by Greater Manchester residents and is used to fund Greater Manchester-wide services for which the Mayor is responsible.
The consultation proposes an increase of £10.11 for a Band B property. The majority of properties in Greater Manchester fall within Band A and B. This amounts to an extra 84 pence a month for a Band B property. The Police precept for a Band B property will go up from £189.23 to £199.34.
Three-quarters of police funding comes from a central government grant and a quarter from what can be raised locally from the Police precept. Central government funding has provided a 1.5 percent below inflation policing grant in real terms to Greater Manchester for the coming year.
Between 2011 and 2019, the grant provided to GMP was cut in real terms by £215 million, which resulted in 2,000 fewer police officers and 1,000 fewer staff. Despite an increase of 1,622 new police officers since 2019, which local council taxpayers have helped fund, we are still yet to restore officer and staff numbers to where they were in 2010.
Greater Manchester’s Fire Service currently has the third lowest precept funding its service in the country, but without an increase to the precept in 2024/25, it will suffer a budget gap due to inflationary pressures and without being able to make any investments to improve its service.
The Mayor has pledged to maintain firefighter numbers above 2017 figures and to not reduce the number of fire engines below 50, a commitment he has maintained so far despite some budgetary pressures over the years.
This is why the Mayor will set out his proposals to invest in GMFRS with a £3.89 precept increase on a Band B property, leading to more prevention, more protection and better emergency response. This will cover inflation and fund a new fire engine, taking the fleet up from 50 pumps in 2017 to 52 – one fire engine is already being introduced in response to the recent GMFRS Fire Cover Review. There will also be an investment of up to £1 million in prevention and protection work across Greater Manchester to reduce fire and rescue incidents.
If approved at a meeting of the GMCA at the end of the month, the Fire precept will increase from £59.27 to £63.16 for a Band B property in 2024/25. Final recommendations across all budgets will be considered for approval by the special budget GMCA on 9 February.
